4 Tips for Real-Time Social Media Monitoring

Companies and brands are adopting social networks at unprecedented rates. According to a recent survey NetBase ran with our partner J.D. Power & Associates, 48% of online consumers are taking note – and fully expect companies to listen and thus improve their products and consumer experience from this feedback. As a result, it’s more critical than ever to be not only equipped for proactive social listening to take in these opinions, emotions and behaviors, but also for in-the-moment marketing that allow companies to course correct and diagnose issues. Every marketer needs to understand what consumers are saying online about their brands, their competitors, and more. Keep reading for 4 tips on enabling your team to be in-the-moment:

1. Have a monitoring solution and plan in place before launching a big campaign.

During the 2012 World Series, Taco Bell launched a promotion promising free tacos to customers whenever a player from the San Francisco Giants or the Detroit Tigers successfully stole a base. Using the NetBase Insight Composer in their social media command center, the Taco Bell team was able to track the buzz and net sentiment for the campaign in real-time. As a result of being ready for real-time monitoring, the team saw the subsequent positive spike in both volume and positive sentiment created by the promotion. When the promotion was announced on October 26, 2012, Taco Bell’s impressions surged from 4,700 to over 3.8 million over a 3 hour period.

2. Gauge micro-changes in your brand’s sentiment and share of buzz.

Unfortunately, what promised to be a fun way to engage baseball-watching Taco Bell fans during a high-profile social media event, turned into a potential disaster when natural disaster Hurricane Sandy took the Northeast, quite literally, by storm. On October 28, 2012, the Taco Bell digital team watched another massive spike in impressions, from approximately 1,000 to over 800,000 in 2 hours. This time, NE fans were complaining and worrying that Hurricane Sandy would prevent them from taking part in the promotion and getting their free tacos.

3. Act quickly when things don’t go according to plan.

Taco Bell acted quickly and issued a statement announcing that they would make good on the promise of free tacos, and ensure that those affected by the hurricane would still get to enjoy the free treats from the promotion.

4. Remember: it’s about engaging your fans – and keeping them coming back for more!

Correspondingly, they noted another positive spike in mentions and sentiment for their brand. During the period of October 23-29, 2012, the brand saw an 852% increase in mentions, and of those mentions, there was a 1,705% increase in positive mentions. By combining speed and accuracy with their social strategy, Taco Bell was able to monitor their consumer sentiment and empower the team to react instantly; saving the campaign, enhancing their brand image, increasing fan loyalty and selling more tacos.

Understand what your customers are saying, where they are talking (geographically and on which digital channel), what they are doing and how they are feeling is becoming a critical best practice for marketers. This requires breaking down silos, and implementing new processes, policies, technology and skill sets (meaning everyone from your copywriter to lawyer need to know how to work together). Are you ready to be an in-the-moment-marketer – the time is now!